Grévin museum
The
Musée Grévin is a waxwork museum with some 500 characters
arranged in scenes from the history of France and modern life in a setting
dominated by gold and marble. The scenes at the Grévin Museum,
with their sound and animation effects, are very realistic.The journalist
Arthur Meyer was at the origin of the Grévin museum. In 1881, he
asked Alfred Grévin, a draughtsman and caricaturist, to produce
figures of celebrities. His idea was to show his contemporaries the personalities
who made the news in three dimensions. At a time when there were no filmed
or photographic reports, the "plastic newspaper" presented by
Meyer and Grévin made a great impact. The press was lavish in its
praise for, as the Moniteur Universel wrote :
"the likeness is perfect, extraordinary". The success came fast,
and the visitors were extremely enthusiastic to discover the wax statues.
Mr. Gabriel Thomas, financier, took the museum and developed it to what
it is today, a conservatory of history. The original and sumptuous setting
of the Grévin museum is still the same as the one designed in 1882
by the architect EugĖne Emile Esnault-Pelterie. The subtle combination
of Louis XIV and Venetian rococo styles harmonizes perfectly with the
rosewood and marble, transforming the hall of columns and the cupola into
a spectacular sight. The great marble staircase designed by the architect
Rives is another gem of interior architecture. Since more than a hundred
years, the museum has immortalized leading personalities of the world
and key scenes from history. Visitors can meet some of the unforgettable
people of the 20th Century : Louis Armstrong,
Brigitte Bardot, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, Spider-man etc. Spectacular wax scenes also bring back great events
of history, and especially French history, in front of you in a very realistic
way : Jeanne
d'Arc burning at the stake, Louis XIV and his court at
LINK
: http://www.grevin.com/english/index.htm